DRIVEN AWAY!!

Admission: Mr. Webster defines it as "acknowledgment of the truth about something". For the most part, admission on my part comes easy whether it be my absolute weakness for ice cream, funnel cakes, puppies or kittens and a few other items that probably shouldn't be mentioned here lest the "Almightly Blogger" is reading. However, this one admission that causes me much consternation is that I was "driven away" from my little jaunt to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. For those of you who have been there, you may be wondering what in the world could drive away a 59 yr. old man. It had to be some horrific circumstance....bad food, unpleasant people, ridiculous price of gasoline, unbearable heat, etc. etc. Hark, it was none of the above and I'm somewhat embarrassed to succumb to such an admission but it was nothing more than the Culiseta longiareolata.

What the hell is that, you're asking....nothing more than the common "skeet-low" ( more affectionately referred to by my good friend, we'll see if the term is familiar to this person.). I've included a picture of one of the little blood suckers. And mind you, it's only the ladies that can suck blood. It could be somewhat of a similarity to the female population of our genre. The male population is left to be discarded and abandoned after doing its' "manly" thing. Ahhhhh, the abuse we take!!!

However, I was able to take a few pictures amidst the swatting and being bitten in many places that Deep Woods Off didn't protect me. These are the Pictured Rocks National Seashore and Munising Falls in the little town of Munising, Michigan. I think I'll go back in the winter.

I'M WITH THE "YOOPERS"

For those of you who are in the "know", and I mean really in the "Know", you'll know (that's a heck a lot of "knows" don't you think??) what I'm referring to as being with the "Yoopers". Ok, ok, I'm going to have to break down and tell you (honestly, I had to look it up myself, lest I make myself look really dumb), but a "Yooper" is a person who is from the Upper Peninsula, Michigan. Derived from "U.P.- ers" have a very strong regional identity. Many of the people who live here claim to have a strong Finnish ancestry. These two images presented are from the little town of Munising, Mi. The sunset is from Sand Point and the waterfalls are the Sable Falls.

But what is even more notable for me is the technology that brings them to you or the viewing world. They were taken with my phone, downloaded to my computer, "cleaned up" in Photoshop, all while I sit in the opulent confines of my RV flanked by my 3 dogs as they make themselves comfortable on the couch. To top it off, I'm sitting here gorging myself on butter pecan ice cream and chasing them with sugar cookies!! I mean, is technology great or what??!?? I say that somewhat facetiously as we often like to "get away" from the world's hustle and bustle, but, as often as we try, we have to stay "connected". It's almost a disease that we can't leave our cell phones, computers, internet, GPS', (and butter pecan ice cream) alone. I mean, I've only been here 3 days and I've already talked with one of my sister', emailed the other one 5x's, spoke with two of my good friends and sent out 10 emails. What happened to the good ol' days when we could be gone for two weeks at a time and the only thing we did in that time was send out postcards.......damn you Steve Jobs.....somebody save me!!!!!

The Secret of Life

This past weekend, I finished watching the miniseries "Lonesome Dove". I had never completely watched the entire series from start to finish when it was originally aired, not having the "maxi" to sit through all 8 hrs. of it. And, if you've not seen it, I would highly recommend it. It's a wonderful story of the Old West, relationships, intrigue, and above all friendship and devotion as attested by the main characters-Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call. It's the sort of relationship that I think we all should strive for lest we lose ourselves in our own selfishness and opportunistic endeavors. It's the fulfillment of a dying man's last wish and the resolute dedication of his best friend to fulfill that wish. While I don't believe our lives are "movies", I believe there can be events in them that parody our own...this being one of them and certainly gives us a goal to strive for. And even though, "Woodrow" would rather not "admit" he's "human", I think of the words to a James Taylor song that again would behoove him and certainly for us to accommodate in our own lives:


"The secret of life is in opening up your heart,
It's okay to feel afraid,
But don't let that stand in your way,
cause anyone knows that love is the only road,
And since we're here for awhile,
Might as well show some style,
Give us a smile."

I was having a little difficulty in finding a really good picture to embody what I'm saying here. Being an animal person, I thought of a pic of myself with my dogs since the love of dog for their master is one of those unwavering, ceaseless loves. However, I chose this family photo of a young couple with their 4 mos. old daughter with their hands entwined exuding strength, trust, comfort, and above all-devotion.

Ruminations and Inclinations

I was out shooting the other evening, sort of meandering about the countryside (actually just off Creve Couer Mill Rd) and the sun was starting to set and I came across these intricate and quite refined vegetative plants. I think the more vernacular term would be "weeds". However, as I contemplated the muses of Plato, Descartes, and possibly even Aristotle, my mind was drawn to their silhouette against the setting sun. I think I've mentioned before that sunsets are quite fun to play with in Photoshop and increasing the saturation and vibrance of the colors are quite enticing....kind of like the proverbial kid in the candy store. However, as I was trying to compose the picture, my philosphical ruminations again came over me. "I think, therefore I am" was the famous inclination of Descartes. And as I carefully moved about the "weeds" looking for some mystical interpetation of the "weeds" against the dance of the sun's reflections as the hues rapidly changed, I thought, is this real, am I imagining the juxtaposition of these "weeds" flickering, dancing, in the wind. Is there a metaphysical and even heavenly vision that I'm missing?? As I made my final approach to fire off the shutter to capture their essence.....I thought to myself.....nahhhh, they're just "weeds", press the damn shutter.

"Hey Barney"

As lovable fictitious, inept, insecure, and the classic alarmist character, "Barney Fife", so we have the opposite in the American barn. I've been off shooting barns the last several days and have thought of Don Knotts character on the Andy Griffith show. I thought I'd pay a little homage and metaphoric comparison to these unlikely two. The barn with its classic sense of tradition and security were often built before the families would build their houses. There was that sense of community spirit as in the case of the Amish when everyone within a 10mile radius would come for the "barn raising". (Remember "Witness"). Then on the opposite, we have the enigmatic Barney Fife, a blithering idiot of sorts but somewhat harmless. The kind of character that in someways, we've come to embrace not for his intelligence but his amiability. And who can forget the famous quote, when Barney, worried about youngsters of the day going wrong, "You know today's 8yr. olds are tomorrow's teenagers, first sign of youngsters going wrong, you've got to nip it in the bud".

And far all of Barney's immutable protestations that made no sense, this one may very well be his most prolific, "nip it in the bud". Far it certainly implies in our own lives that rather than have a mountain made out of a mole hill, are we not better off when the problem is small and bring it out in the open rather than let it fester and cause further damage??
"Walking like a one many army
Fighting with the shadows in your head
Living out the same old moment
Knowing you'd be better off instead
If you could only
Say what you need to say"
Here's to "nipping it in the bud".

Paul's Day

I'm going to digress a bit here today and give acknowledgment to a special man who was in my life for 36 yrs and our time was cut way to short. And I'd have to say that he still "graces" my presence in a spiritual sense everyday...my dad. It's been 23 yrs. since he died. Today would have been his 94 birthday had he lived. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of him (and mom) and wish he (they) were still here in the flesh. I went to my great nephew's baseball game yesterday. A savvy group of 10 yr. olds trying to make their mark in the world of little league baseball, making stellar throws from what seems to be an ocean of dirt over to first base. A bit of nostalgia overcame me as I recalled Paul and me having catch in our driveway and his meager attempts to show me how to hit a baseball; something I already knew how to do with great ease. Paul didn't have an innate ability but he did have passion about showing his only son the "ropes" of "keep your eye on the ball, Dan". He would often duck as I swung feverishly and whistled one by his head. I mentioned in an earlier post that we had watched "Shane" the night before he died from his hospital room as his body raked with cancer that had invaded it; had somehow betrayed him. I remembered the eulogy that I delivered at his funeral and the lasting words that still ring in my ear....."he didn't lose his life to his alcoholism, cancer didn't beat him, he just ran out of time". I think of the evocative words calling out to Ray Kinsella from "Field of Dreams", "if you build it, he will come", and the mesmerizing, "ease his pain",. I hope in a small way, I eased my dad's pain.
Love,
Your son